Question of the Week: 75 - 1/14/2002So What Do YOU Think of the Pagan Web?What changes did you see in the Pagan Web last year? Were these changes good or bad? What do you hope to see happen or evolve on-line this year? What would you recommended to budding Pagan web weavers?

I have noticed that many of my favorite pagan sites and new (and some old) e-zines have either dissappeared or haven't been updated in a long time.

Mamawitch's Pagan Parenting Page and the Music for the Goddess band website are still going strong after 5 years, with updates every sabbat. I will admit it's very difficult to get "volunteer" content from the community, and that making the time to work on the website is getting more difficult.

Blessings,Wendy (Mamawitch)

http://www.musicforthegoddess.com/parent and http://www.musicforthegoddess.com

I agree with quite a few of the above responses. "Here is a list of spells" is much too overdone. There is so much more to learn beyond that!I started my own amateur *grin* site and although it's slowly building, my goal is to list a lot of applicable 'not-spell' information. I think back to when I began. What problems did I encounter? What questions did I have with no answers to be found? For example, the idea of meditation and trancework was always foreign to me. I thought, I can blank my mind but how do I see pictures in a crystal ball? Obviously, a bit of education needed.That is the kind of articles I would like to see more of. Simply written, offering help to new or experienced ones.

Like Many Other Pagans, I First Learned About Paganism Through The Internet...

Like many other Pagans, I first learned about Paganism through the internet, actually in a chatroom on mIRC. In the 4 years since then, I have seen many changes in the "Pagan Web, " mostly in the area of participation. In 1998 when I began my studies the Pagan Web was fully alive, quickly-moving, full of excitement. Now it is becoming more *and my vocabulary is slipping away on me...* I suppose formalized is as good a word as any. (One of the wonderful things about the old Pagan Web was how ANYONE could make a wonderful website explaining their own journey, it didn't have to be associated or listed on one of the more popular main Pagan sites, like this one, to be considered legitimate.) One thing I've seen on the Web is people coming to the Internet to start their learning, then they feel the need to find people *tangible people in their own areas* to follow through with. Those who stayed online longer (I'm speaking specifically of chatrooms now) were labeled "posers" and "web-witches" and were thought of as less legitimate, less of a Pagan than someone who was, say, a part of a circle or coven offline. Many people I know were turned away by this. Now I see that those negative people have found a new group of people to bother and for the most part the members of the online Pagan community are very eager to help, share their own experiences, and learn more.In the end, I'd say that the Pagan Web is taking a turn for the better. The negativity and confusion I've seen (from about 99-00) has dissipated and the true seekers (and teachers) are left standing. I have a lot of hope for the future of Pagans online.

I have seen more crafting sites emerging this year. I am a crafter as well as a witch and it looks as though more crafty witches are coming out the broom closet. I personally don't care for web sites that advertise handcrafted items and only carry what everyone else has or simple to make products that they want an arm and a leg for.

I think that the community is coming together more and using the web to do it. I belong to 2 different pagan crafting lists and I love sharing my ideas with my fellow crafters.

I have noticed that there are not as many "fluffy bunny" sites as there used to be. I think the "being a witch is cool" phase has run it's course. More of the personal sites seem to be more earthy and less flashy.

In the coming year, I hope to see more of this trend, were we share ourselves more than just having the same things over and over.

Blessings

The Only Thing Wrong, For Lack Of A Better Word, With The...

Jan 14th. at 9:44:17 am UTC

Alexa (Westboro, Massachusetts US)

Age: 14

The only thing wrong, for lack of a better word, with the pagan web, is they all have basically the same stuff. few go beyond Wicca/Paganism 101 etc.

I Came Online In 1999 And The First Website I Made Was...

Jan 14th. at 9:49:30 am UTC

V (Grand Island, Nebraska US)

Age: 23

I came online in 1999 and the first website I made was dedicated to posting original pagan-related content. Now, two years later, I see the same content on hundreds of sites.

Literally... it is my content that I see on other sites, stripped of all credits toward myself as the author.

I think that the biggest change in the pagan web that I've seen is actually within myself. It used to bother me greatly to have my work taken and posted without credit or permission, but now I welcome it.

In fact, I am currently working on another site for this explicit purpose: quality original content, with a message at the bottom of every page that says...

"Feel free to take or use this content as you see fit."

It really feels good to let go of copyright. Saves a lot of frustration. Spreads information which you know is valid and good.

I think most of what's out there is great, and the wide diversity of opinions is always something to enjoy.I do think that one ought to watch out for putting down other traditions or implying that one's tradition is better than another.

I personally want to see more on gay witchcraft, and on the history of gay people in pagan societies.

I guess you could truly say I'm a seasoned veteran of the Pagan Web. My official entry into the virtual world coincided with my official entry into Paganism, as both of these things happened long ago (in a galaxy far away) in the dim dead year of 1990. :) I was a college dropout at 21, and a disillusioned Episcopalian seeking some deeper meaning than what I felt Christianity had to offer me, and I had become intrigued after reading of Jim Morrison and Patricia Kennealy's 1970 handfasting in "No One Here Gets Out Alive." It was on the BBSes of the old Pagan Information Network that I was first directed toward the many highly-regarded books on Paganism and Wicca (most especially Starhawk's "The Spiral Dance" and Margot Adler's "Drawing Down the Moon"), and the rather small, isolated Pagan community in New Orleans, where I lived at the time.Without the old PIN, I might never have found my chosen path, nor have finally begun to truly explore my own sexuality and romantic ideals, which I have explored mainly with Pagan women. And without the Pagan Web, when I at last ventured onto the Internet in early 1999, after several years' absence from cyberspace, I might not have found the Witches' Voice, which for me remains the premier Pagan source on the Internet, nor WaningMoon.com, which has one of the most reliable Pagan Personals sites out there. Their site introduced me to several ladies with whom I have started friendships, have had romances, and brought me at last to the love of my life this past November.

So what would I like to see with the evolving Pagan Web? I'd like to see, among other things, more sites for Pagan music. TWV was my first source, and it led me to Scott Martin's fine Pagan Rock Bands on the Web page (although at last glimpse, I would suggest that Mr. Martin does need to do at least a little revamping of that page, as a number of the bands listed no longer appear to have active pages or sites, and have thus become abandoned rest stops on the Information Superhighway).To those emerging with newer and bluer sites of their own, two words: ORIGINAL CONTENT. Very important, this. Don't just throw up everything you've already found on other websites, and don't copy what others have worked so hard to create. If you want something good and lasting, wrack your brains and inspire yourselves to new heights of creativity. After all, if you want continued site hits, you've got to keep your site fresh and original. Frequent updates are very important, and on this point I concur with those who have already posted opinions along this line.

Keep those ideas in mind, and you cannot go wrong.

I've Been Surfing The Web For Years And I Believe That The...

Jan 15th. at 9:24:59 am UTC

Cyn Stavros (Toronto, Ontario CA)

Age: 27

I've been surfing the web for years and I believe that the Pagan web is very dusty. I wonder WHY many of these folks do these sites. Ego? yes I think that is a driving force.

The fact that Witchvox updates weekly and has as long as I have been coming here, is rare and appreciated by me. I don't always agree with the writers here, but do respect the efforts. It's no surprise to me that they are so busy with traffic.

Trends? I see too many automated websites. not a bad idea, but they count on us to fill them in. most of these sites are like a big fancy house with no books or furnature. ya visit and see nothing of substance. ya don't return.

I also see to many sites that are trying to copy witchvox. I wonder again WHY they do this. Don't they want us all to come together? or do they just want some power for them. Why not link to the Pagan sites that do this best? To many sites pretend they are great but they are NOT.

The pagan internet is full of trash and I really wish pagans would either update their sites or empty the trash. I get tired of clicking to a site only to find out they are lost in space. The Witches League from Salem is a good example, there home page talks about samhaim coming. How can we respect someone that doesn't care about us visitors.

love and peaceCyn

Boring... To Many Pagan Sites Are Boring. Same Graphics Same Chapters. I'd...

Boring... To many Pagan sites are boring. Same graphics same chapters.I'd rather see a self centered personal journal than another site trying to be just like the rest.If you want me to come back you have to show that you care about me. otherwise why would I care about your site.

I used to love surfing the Pagan websites... but these days the pagan web looks like that opening scene from 'back to the future two'... Advertising everywhere. everything for price. Classes online? give me a break. I was raised to believe that teaching was free and always done face to face.

I think most of the pagan webmasters are getting lazy or losing interest, unless they get paid something for their work. The christians are big on selling their religion and apparently we are not different in this respect.

I hope this changes and the spirit of this community comes back out of the cash register.

I reccomend that pagan webmasters work on offering original material again. I miss the old pagan web, the one before the greed for my money was the key factor.

I didn't really notice any change, because I mainly stick with a few favorite websites and rarely stray, or pay almost no attention when the content or design doesn't satisfy me, that is, when I DO stray. Of course, with all the Pagan/Wiccan websites out there, there should be a little more interesting, or complete websites to visit. I'd like to see more websites concentrating on more precise topics as well as history and traditions (or at least what the people in those trads can share with others without breaking their oaths) and websites that allow people to voice their opinions, announce events and write essays and contributions (ahem, sounds like someone we already know *grins*). Anyhow, that would be all I have to say on the subject because I am not the best website designer in the world (and tend to lose interest really easily in such matter). Brightest Blessings...

Website structure, evolution and php coding by Fritz Jung on a Macintosh G5.

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